1. Field
The following description relates to a transmission line for transmitting electromagnetic waves, and more particularly, to a metamaterial transmission line and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an electromagnetic wave comprises an electric field, and a magnetic field, and has a transmission direction of power which can be calculated in accordance with the right-hand rule.
A metamaterial transmission line is implemented by forming an artificial structure using thin wires and split ring resonators such that an electromagnetic wave travels along the metamaterial transmission line while directions of an electric field, a magnetic field and a transmission direction of power are formed according to a left-hand rule instead of the right-hand rule.
Experiments of transmitting an electromagnetic wave using thin wires and split ring resonators such that directions of an electric field, a magnetic field and a transmission direction of power are formed according to the left-hand rule originate in the field of optics, but such experiments have been applied to transmission lines and now the research for metamaterials to be utilized in microwave bands is being actively conducted.
A metamaterial transmission line can be realized by adding series capacitors and parallel inductors in a transmission line.
The above structure comes to have a negative propagation constant below a frequency having a zero (0) propagation constant or a transition frequency which is referred to as a zero resonant frequency.
Additionally, in case of a zero propagation constant, the metamaterial transmission line enables electromagnetic waves to propagate while the conventional transmission line cannot allow electromagnetic waves to pass.
Since the propagation constant of the transition frequency is 0, all fields at a corresponding frequency band have the same size, and this is referred to as an infinite wavelength.
Recently, a metamaterial transmission line has been proposed which exhibits two frequencies each having an infinite wavelength, but the structure of such metamaterial transmission line is complex because it has to be implemented with a series capacitors and parallel inductors.